December 7, 1985
History
Late in the summer of 1979, posters went up around New Town inviting “Gay sopranos, altos, tenors, and basses (and anyone in between)’ to come sing with their gay brothers and sisters. About twenty-five sopranos and altos, and thirty-five tenors and basses, showed up for the first meeting on October 9. Most of the women drifted away in the first weeks, and it was as the male-voice Windy City Gay Chorus that about forty-five singers debuted, the guests of the Gay Pride Band, in December, 1979, at the old Center Stage on Clark Street in the inaugural holiday concert “Don We Now”. Today the Windy City Gay Chorus numbers seventy-five and begins its seventh season with “Don We Now VII”.
In the spring of 1984, the Windy City Gay Chorus was awarded first place in the national competition of the Great American Choral Festival sponsored by Johnny Marm. To reach the national competition, the WCGC received first place in the regional competition of the festival, one of eleven such competitions held across the country. In October, 1984, the WCGC was one of only seven choruses honored by an invitation to sing at the Illinois state convention of the American Choral Directors Association, and next spring WCGC has also been invited by the ACDA to sing at the organization’s regional convention in Indianapolis.
Touring performances have taken the WCGC to Milwaukee, Indianapolis, Columbus, Peoria, and New York’s Lincoln Center, where the chorus performed at Avery Fisher Hall with the New York City Gay Men’s Chorus. The WCGC joined the Twin Cities Men’s Chorus on stage at Orchestra Hall in Minneapolis in 1984, where the mayors of St. Paul and Minneapolis issued a proclamation to the chorus in support of its music and ambassadorship.
The Windy City Gay Chorus has received a proclamation from Chicago’s Mayor Harold Washington hailing the group as “a unique asset to the cultural life of the city and a source of pride to its citizens, who are devoted to excellence in the performing arts.” Similarly, in June, 1984, the Illinois House of Representatives unanimously passed a resolution commending both the chorus and Mr. Garrin, “their distinguished director, as a measure of our esteem and appreciation.”
Each year the chorus presents three major concerts: in December, in the spring, and during Gay Pride Week.
The WCGCs offerings to the community include concerts at Park West for “Chicago Sings Against A.I.D.S.” and annual fund-raisers for the Howard Brown Clinic. Many members also share their time during the holidays caroling at hospitals and nursing homes.
Membership in the Windy City Gay Chorus is gained by a short audition, and members re-audition each season to demonstrate individual musical growth. Although some of the members of the chorus hold degrees in music or professional singing positions with other groups in the city, almost all are volunteer singers dedicated to the time and effort it takes to produce musical excellence. The WCGC is the oldest of three gay choruses in Chicago, the Artemis Singers and the Chicago Gay Men’s Chorus being the other two.
The WCGC is incorporated under Illinois charter as Windy City Performing Arts, Inc., and is funded through private donations, its members, and in part by a grant from the Illinois Arts Council, a state agency. If you wish to know more about our organization, receive our mailings, inquire about auditions, or donate your time in a non-singing capacity, please call or write us at: Windy City Performing Arts, Inc., 606 West Barry, #216, Chicago, Illinois 60657; 227-3853.
Windy City Performing Arts 